HR and Employment-related Reports and Reviews

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About this lesson

Overview of human resources-related reports as part of company communications.

Quick reference

Topic

Overview of human resources-related reports as part of company communications.

When to use

When writing employment-centered content.

Instructions

Purpose

Typical topics of employment-centered content:

  • Policy
  • Position
  • Performance
  • Employee Relations
  • Benefits, Salary, Laws and More (not within our scope)

Human Resources-Related Reports Overview

  • Templates for performance reviews, standard operating procedures (SOPs) and memos are common
  • Policy: notifications go in a memo, changes go in the manual. Deliver clear information
  • Infractions: express what needs to change and what behaviors are sought
  • In Response: use candor, business tone and facts
  • Position: two-way communication is best (not information-out only!). Detail key expectations
  • Performance: an evaluation is rarely perfect, but should be fair and well-supported. No direct comparisons to other staffers
  • Internal: connect employees with the company journey
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  • 00:04 Now we're going to cover the uses of and approach to human resources related reports as
  • 00:12 part of company communications, concentrating on employees center content.
  • 00:18 For content related to the needs and management of company employees
  • 00:23 business writing concerns keeping an eye on
  • 00:26 how we stay open in the lines of communication
  • 00:29 so morale and performance stay high also. Typical topics of employee centered content
  • 00:37 are: matters of policy.
  • 00:39 For example changes and responses to changes in policy,
  • 00:43 infractions of policy or standard operating procedures.
  • 00:48 Matters of position for example on-boarding new employees, job descriptions or duties
  • 00:55 or retirement rules.
  • 00:58 Matters of performance for instance performance reviews or praise of a job well done.
  • 01:05 employee relations, communications in this area would include
  • 01:09 year end report-backs to the company at large or newsletters to a smaller staffs happening weekly or monthly.
  • 01:17 And, discussion of benefits; salary, laws and more
  • 01:22 this really isn't within our scope of our business writing course.
  • 01:28 For human resources and employment related writing
  • 01:33 a key consideration is the use of templates.
  • 01:39 Templates are a great choice for certain forms such as performance reviews,
  • 01:44 SOPs or standard operating procedures,
  • 01:47 memos, and so on and they're common, because experts know that it keeps all communications on an even field with everyone
  • 01:58 across the board. Shown here for example
  • 02:00 is a template for an employee orientation presentation that would bring new employees on board with all the same background information.
  • 02:11 And it's a PowerPoint that comes from the Microsoft Office
  • 02:17 web site, downloaded that anyone could use.
  • 02:22 A policy memo
  • 02:24 is something that is very common because notifications often happen in a timely fashion
  • 02:30 and are effective immediately.
  • 02:33 Changes however would also need to be included for the long term in the larger document known as the Policy Manual. Overall you want to
  • 02:42 make sure that the communication is clear everyone understands it,
  • 02:48 and consistent in all forms.
  • 02:53 If there are infractions to a policy
  • 02:56 or a complaint happens when something goes wrong
  • 03:00 the most important
  • 03:01 content is written expression of what needs to change
  • 03:07 and what behaviors are sought.
  • 03:09 And in response if you're on the receiving end of a complaint or a warning
  • 03:15 remember use candor in your response. It's best to address the problem or accusation
  • 03:22 head on and honestly, speaking of business tone in your writing and use facts to support your response.
  • 03:31 For matters of position,
  • 03:33 if you are in charge of writing a matter of position such as a job description
  • 03:39 or an onboarding manual
  • 03:42 keep the communication two-ways. It's an important consideration for human resources
  • 03:48 and employment related writing it is not information-out only.
  • 03:54 You should detail key expectations but also get input and ask for questions.
  • 04:00 For performance related matters, remember
  • 04:04 an evaluation is rarely perfect, but take care to make sure that the writing is always fair and well supported
  • 04:13 and remember don't ever make direct comparisons
  • 04:17 to other members of the staff.
  • 04:19 It should be general and written about the person in the review.
  • 04:26 Finally internal communications:
  • 04:29 the whole point of company communications is to connect
  • 04:34 each employee with the journey of the company at large, so from strictly business of policy changes
  • 04:44 and human resources documentation all the way through the candid factual responses to warnings
  • 04:52 and fair performance reviews and right down to the fun communications that can take place at the
  • 04:59 employee newsletter level, just know that your employee centered communications success depends on
  • 05:09 creating the right content for the right purpose.

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